Perhaps I am in a melancholic mood. Perhaps the start of the school year has an ever larger impact as I know the time I have left with my kids is shrinking. Perhaps it’s just everything. I’m in the mood for an interactive story, and one that hits the feels.

I have an overly larger Steam library, and across the many, many years of gaming I have played only a select few have truly moved me. What Remains of Edith Finch is right in the top of that pile. Few games can accomplish in 40 hours what this game does in 2.

In broad strokes, you play as Edie, a young woman trying to piece together if her family has a curse. Everyone in her family tree has died, some in very odd circumstances. Using an anthology format, you relive those moments in a weird science format, never quite sure exactly what’s going on. Maybe you’re a shark rolling down a hill in a forest, or building a kingdom in your mind. The end culminates with closure, as what could possibly come from it.

What sets this game from all others is that the the stage itself feels real. The house and land you explore feels lived in, with character and clutter. That realism is juxtaposed with the surrealism of the vignettes, where each death is implicit, and surrounded by some fantastical events. It’s as if you’re listening to that uncle who can tell the most amazing stories, and getting to experience each.

I’ve played through a few times now. While none have had the impact of the first experience, each time there’s a zen that I get out of it. It’s also strange in that I can’t explain the effects, it has to be simply experienced. But like all art, the interpretation varies and what I get out of it certainly wouldn’t be what others could.

If you haven’t had a chance to play through, I still emphatically recommend What Remains of Edith Finch.

Like, really early thoughts.

It’s good.

Ok, seriously now. It’s a Souls-like in respect to shrines that heal & respawn enemies, a slosh of complex boss fights and a pile of dodging. Where it differs is that there’s no death penalty, no interconnected zones, no maps, no weapon selections, very fast combat, easy respecs, no stats, no real “choice”. It’s linear, which is quite a bit different than most games of late. The comparison just doesn’t hold.

My only gripe with the game thusfar is a lack of a map and the invisible walls. It makes exploration tedious.

The combat is relatively tight with a decent amount of options. You can’t dodge cancel, meaning you need to learn to pace attacks. Bosses have tells and it has yet to feel dramatically unfair. I expect to die a few times on every boss in order to learn their patterns, and that’s exactly what happens. The lack of weapon variety means that you need to adapt to the range of your staff, which removes risk vs. reward decisions, but there are still plenty of move options present. I have not yet found any world-traversal skills (e.g. hookshot, mounts, etc..) – maybe that comes later, though I can’t see much use for it yet.

The world looks amazing, and the music is awesome. The dialogue is horrendous, but the lore/background info is a lot of fun to read through. I’ve heard gripes of people not understanding the context behind the game (as it’s based on Journey to the West), but that’s really just western entitlement here. It may increase enjoyment of the overall plot, and given more context to the bad guys but it’s far from any deal breaker.

The rest of the mechanics I’m still discovering. Player progression is quite flexible, with unlimited respecs. Crafting is simplistic, and you can revert some of it. There are levels, but only in the context of giving you a single point to invest in a complex tree of options. It’s ok, but there doesn’t appear to be any depth here.

So back to my original thought. It’s good.

Steam Sale + good memories of KH1 & 2 + Steam Deck approved = I bought Kingdom Hearts 3 Re Mind.

It truly is quite an art to name a Kingdom Hearts game. Like someone is spinning a random wheel of words and just going with it. Dream Drop Distance. 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. That said, the games are as convoluted as the story within Kingdom Hearts, where nothing ever makes any sense and there are seeming retcons & twists every hour.

Which begs the question as to why KH has such a large fan base in the first place? Well, the setting for one is rather unique. I’ve played a lot of games, and few have you charge Goofy into dragons, team up with Hercules, use Rapunzel’s hair as a whip, or control Mickey with a sword. There are none that put that all together. Second, the first two mainline games were constructed to be strong tactical games, with a long end game (ultra gear) and insanely well designed optional bosses. I’ve yet to play anything that resembled the rage/joy of Sephiroth in KH1. And finally, the cutscenes made it like you were playing a movie, which at the time was somewhat niche.

I’ve tried other games in the series. They are ok, not good. In fact, only the mainline games have scored over 80. Meh.

I was interested in KH3 when it came out, but was already quite a way from my console years. I figured at some point it would hit PC. Sadly, SquareEnix has some of the most maddening pricing models on the planet, and I wasn’t going to pay $90 for a 5 year old game. A sale which included all the games was the best option, and gave me a chance to replay KH1+KH2 to get familiarized again.

To the Meat of It

Kingdom Hearts 3 is an ok game, made especially dangerous for those with epilepsy. There was always a lot going on the screen in prior games, but here it dials it up to 11. Fights allow optional commands to be used, either a stronger spell, a separate weapon form (more on that), a contextual attack, or using a Disney Ride. You want to use a swinging pirate ship ride? Go ahead! I am not a fan.

Weapons come with alternate forms, that provide a specific boost. Whether defense, magic or some major ultra attack. You can “shoot” a weapon as well, which locks a target and blasts them with stuff. To make all weapons relevant for the duration of the game, you can now upgrade them, so that the choice is in their boosted effects rather than their stats.

Donald + Goofy are the same as in prior games. Thematic characters, specific to certain zones, still have special attacks. Same as before.

The Gummi Ship is still there, with generally the same content while fighting. When not fighting, the ship is used to explore a open world map in a 3D environment. It’s interesting side content, with some cool boss battles.

The worlds are at least 4x larger than KH3, which is almost all aspects is a downgrade. There’s only so much meaningful stuff you can put in a game, and this in turn makes it an empty map that you slog through a ton of basic enemies to reach anything fun. I mean, they look amazing, truly amazing and just like the movies. Yet there’s only so much frozen mountain top you can stand.

Boss battles still rock, and are a major highlight. I am beyond impressed at the complexity, diversity and originality that the devs put in here. All the way to the end, you’re going to have major battles that are just a pure joy to get through.

The story is a nightmare to follow, and unless you’re reading some wiki, won’t make a lick of sense. The cutscenes are very long, especially near the end. I’m sure there’s a good 12 hrs of cutscenes in this game, which truly doubles down on the interactive movie bit.

Optional content has always been an interesting feat of these games. In particular in collecting material for the best gear (some version of Ultima) and then optional bosses. Collecting material is tedious, the side games generally have horrid controls, and the rewards are all but required for the ReMind DLC. As in prior games the DLC is you fighting OrgXIII members, who are all on steroids and speed. Pattern recognition, knowing when to block or dodge is the only way to get through them. I did 4 of them and had enough. I’m all good for a challenge, but I don’t need 13 versions of the Sephiroth fight.

Unless you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan, there are ample games that do better mechanically and are easier to follow the storyline. If you are a KH fan, then odds are you already played the game. It filled a spot during the summer, and truthfully plays wonderfully on the Steam Deck.